Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1887-02-01
I'm ARCADIA.

I'm ARCADIA.
A Summers Fishing on the Higher
Lands of New ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Reesllections of a Notable Trouting
Region.
The following written by q New York mer-
chant, resident of this city, will appeal to the
sympathies of many disciple of old Izaak
Walton and to all who are lovers of nature:
The experiences of summers fishing at
this time of the year may seem out of place.
but recollection recalls them wildly to the
mind.
When dwellers in this latitude have moth
ing around them but cold, snowy, frozen up
nature to remind them of beautiful sheets of
water in the green wilderness, of the noun
tain brook, of wild leaping trout and all that
goes to make up the keen enjoyment of the
true fisherman and true lover of wild nature,
unadorned and uncultivated by man, the en-
thusiastic fisherman lives over the dear past
summer memories and like the returned SOL
der
"Weeps over his wounds or tales of sorrow done,
Shoulders his crutch and shows how fields were
won.'
So the returned veteran after the summers
campaign is over handles his rod often with
affectionate regard, feels again the strike,
the play, and the successful landing of the
fish, and awaits the laggard days to go by to
give a realization to his fancies.
Our Arcadia was not near the Grand Pre- where
sSea fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the
mighty Atlantic
Looked on the happy valley"
but on the higher lands of New Brunswick,
not to be located here too definitely, for the
disciple OF Walton jealously guards his
trysting place and reveals it only to the few
appreciative ''sui generis."
This much can say, our TRUSTING place
was grandly located on high elevation in a
deep, unbroken wilderness, dotted here and
there with small blue lakes set in the dip of
the mountains, the water clear and cold, the
fit home for the most beautiful of all fishes,
the real spotted "brook trout" Our base of
operations was a settlers house miles away
from struggling settlement. The house was
a hill at the foot of which
one of the lakes where we
finished. The country surrounding was the
'tScottish Highlands" reproduced and sparse
ly populated with the descendants of the
cannv Scottish emigrants, they having lost
none of their hereditary thrift and frugality
by being transplanted. Their scanty means
of ubsistence and their hard work was
wonder to one unaccustomed to the not over
laborious tasks of our section. To see the
spinning wheel and loom now discarded by
us and learn that the good housewife and
daughter spun and wove from the wool
sheared from the farmers sheep all their
blankets and cloth for their clothing gave me
a feeling of admiration for the spinner and
England days with all their legends, memo
ries, Priscillas spinning wheels and all that
hallowed that past. I saw before me the
daughter of the farmer when spinning, for
she was fair-haired and beautiful to look at,
a daughter of Arcadia, from whose life a
Priscilla or an Evangeline might be evoked;
but alas facts make havoc with sentiment,
for the fair spinner was Mater, she not hav-
ing lost her Gabriel, as was evidenced by
three curly heads This Gabriel's wife was
happy, leading hum-drum existence. No
ennui, no envy, no luxuries, but oblvlous to
the great outside world, living in her I'M
plastered, uncarpeted log cabin, only for her
liege lord and their posterity.
Did you ever stand on the hill tops of
lake Just before sunrise and see the morning
mists rising up to the surrounding hills and
mountains, so concealing their bases and the
lake that you saw around you, as far as the
encircling hills would permit, what appeared
to be great lake with islands dottiRg Its
surface, these islands being the peaks of the
hills below you? If you have ever witnessed
this deceptive scene and saw the great decep-
tive lake before you, you can then compre-
bend the picture that was hung up before us
the first morning after we arrived and were
on our way to the lake. We could not real
ize that our lake would be narrowed down
to its reality, but before we had descend
ed far the sun Just rising not only added
light enough to dispel some of the illusion,
but brought in its wake the morning breeze,
which waved away the mist and showed us
only our little lakelet with a trout here and
there breaking the water as he leaped to
break his fast on the early fly. Soon our
sport began, for the morning was cool, and
just enough ripple the water to deceive
the wary trout to the true nature of our
flies. A few words can describe the taking
of basket of trout weighing from one to
three pounds each, but the experience Will
last until time is no more.
The time was long duration of three
hours pleasure, with not fool at one end
of the line and worm at the other, as some
one has described an angler, but an ardent
lover of nature and one who feels the con-
queror's pride in capturing the most willy,
coquetting and captivating of fish: The
fisherman need not apologize for his love of
the sport, for his worthy piscatory apostle
''Iz." Walton has ennobled it by the charm
ing pastoral talk AMI poems written by him
over two hundred years ago and which
to day show one the beautiful coun-
try life of England and the enjoy
ment of innocent delights and recreation
from its pleasant brooks and rivers. In his
dialogue with Vepator in upholding his art
against that of the huntsman, and to give it
character, he says: doubt not that angling
is an art. Is it not an art to deceive trout
with an artificial fly, trout that is more
sharp-sighted than any hawk and more
tied merlin is bold? Angling is an art and
worthy of your learning, and somewhat like
poetry, men have to be born with an inclina-
ton to it." It seems also that the beautiful
coquette Cleopatra enjoyed the pastime, for
she says when going fishing with Anthony:
Ny % payn agf sr s r. s then
Tawny finn'd fishes. my Bonded hook shall pierce
bn n Rs aRa on as an up
And say, ali ha, you re caught
But "Revenons nous moutons." We usu
ally fished each morning and just before
sunset with very good success, especially at
the evening dusk, in an inlet where we raised
some large trout that would not come to the
surface at any other time.
We could see them hump their backs lazily
out of the water to swallow dusky miller,
and we would then cast our flies over the
spot, but it required light casting and very
dim light to deceive and capture those willy
veterans Alexander-like, we sighed for more
lakes to conquer, for our lake was not yield
ing us in number the record we wished to
make SO we planned an expedition to
the lakes accessible only by long tramp
over trail known only to our guides. Over
mountains, through deep woods, over fallen
trees and boulders, through swamps, to two
lakes, twin sisters, hand in hand enclasped
by an inlet. There was feeling of satisfac-
ton in standing on the shores of these lakes.
The satisfaction of being alone far from
any habitation, and knowing that these
lakes walled around by their green environ
ment were as they came from their Maker;
the rush of the tornado, the sweep
of the forest fire, and the decay
of nature, being the only instru-
ments of change that had touched their sur
ronndings since their primeval birth. The
trout in those likes were unaccustomed to
the hordes of fishermen that invaded the
more accessible waters, and did not hesitate
to take the fly even under cloudless sky.
So the first afternoon in rowing down the
inlet of one of the lakes we saw dark spot
under the bank where the fish were making
ripples in the water by their efforts to catch
the fly ga La ..nature," and going within
casting distance we gave them each time
three of our artificial flies, and their greed
vas our gain, for we often landed two, and
once three at cast, they fighting for dear
life, taking our line out with rush. then
slowly giving in inch by inch until tired out
they were lifted in the boat with our landing